The Labor enquirer., 1887-01-22

eo0n eeote0 - tho mauaGoro pTlvAtel0
d.. Nv N.qussHons met With are4d
rssponse The times are, hs said, -
doubtsdly Bad, but with the sailors the
are lathef bettsr than about the bs(i,
ming of ths yssf. There scan bs no dohl
but that there % much distress anon
dock laborsrs. The greater part Of h
trade has gone down river to the nsts
docks. The better elan lsborsrs hhy
migratsd, but the men with families On
not move. A lot Of dock hands tried I
pass6ff q sailors. but 1T wouldn't DO
One socistv has stated that there q
"hundreds" Of starving sailors In I|or
| don" The committee Of the Sailor
| Home had Immediately offered lQp.
head for every starvinslsailor produced
; No single one had ever applied. Thi
proved that the suffering is not anon
our sailors. Mr.. Carroll. the missionhr'
Of the home. also gave me some inter
eating information on the subject. an
spoke Of the great dificultv.of obtain
ing woEk for the dock hands. who II
many instances try to enter the seilpr'
Home, .' q
Following the recommendation of 10,
last informant, called ct the st. KSth
crimes restaurant. kept by . brsnch 2
the sisters Of the church. The restsu
rant is large and well supplied Here
saw the sister in charge. who stated thai
the amount Of dlstress 10 much greatel
at the present time than it has been fol
the past four years. There is q gfea!
deal of sickness now. mainly brought on
through poverty. ''Our sick list" said
the sistsr. "has sixty visits week in st.
Johns, Shadwell. alone. one parish that
is, all entirely due to want Of food" The
men are mostly dock hands Theif old
occupations are gone. The women are
principally tailors Or waistcoat hands.
When they cannot get other work they
make matchboxes. There are number
Of dock hands whose only daily food il
purchased Off the barrows the sisters
send out into ths docks. They buy
half-penny pudding. or basin.of sour
at the same price.
The Rev. G. II. Turner rector Of St
Geofge's-in-the-east. who kindly accorded
ne an interview, was convinced that the
present distress is due to two csuses-
"the quantity ofshipping which femsins
down river. or dues not enter the docks
at all, and the underselling Of Labor BY
foreigners. There is no minimum n with
the foreigners. They can always under
bid the English, who lose their worh
and drift into misery. The distress hsi
been much more badly felt than usual
owing to the severe weather. The pool
are in state of sbiect penury. and have
little left to pawn"
The late bishop Of London !. wher
speaking of the poorer. parishes Of Lon
don, said that St. Johns, shadwell. with
its $4,000 parishioners. was. with on'
exception, the poorest parish in hls dio
cese. The parish borders on the docks
and is densely populated. l ther rsfort
lost no time in seeing the Rev. g. I
Gull Bennett, the vicar. from whom
received great assistance. To give ,
proof of the unusual poverty at pr resen
existing, the wears penny bank ha'
since Christmas averaged 1Ss. weekly
deposits. while during the corresp spond
ing period OF 1854 the weekly receipts
amounted to E3 los. The application
for relief from the church and charitable
funds had been much in excess Of th'
usual number. The greatest sufferers q
the present time are people who hat
formerly worked at q trade, from whicl
they had been elected bv competition
and the undertaking of labor BY for
eigners. Y
Take the tailoring and emskinI
trades. There was very large q noun
of this sort of work done in the district
The Polish Jews had taken up th|
trades, and very few Englishmen ar
now employed. TIE Jew worked fd
less, and gradually got the entire trad
into their hands. They are now ct
tending their operations by renting an
sub-letting houses. Of which they hay
acquired number in the neighborhood
They are good tenants: so that the land
lord cannot be blamed. They will offe
12s. week for house let for los, AM
will moreover pay down as much as 30l
for possession. The present tenants ar
given notice, and the Jews 60 in the f9
lowing week and speedily let the room
at increased rents. More Jews an
Germans have immigrated into the dii
trict during the past'two years than eve
before.
The English who are thus turn ned 9r
Of their trade and their houses migrAt
where thew can, and, unable to q p
other work. the men try the docks.
is at best hard life. and WI hen it
taken on. the hanging about the doc
gates on the chance Of being wante
during the day is very denofalizih
The majority are too poor to 30 rigl
away. They know no other trade, an
have not the wit to cope with the 70
eipner. The womenkind take sackmh